Oak Brook Doctor Sentenced for Role in Kickback Scheme

An Oak Brook doctor will spend two years in prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving Sacred Heart Hospital in Chicago.

Dr. Venkateswara R. “V.R.” Kuchipudi was imposed the sentence this week, according to information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Northern Illinois. According to the complaint, Kuchipudi was one of the “most prolific” sources of patient referrals in the scheme that involved 10 defendants and resulted in the shuttering of the West Side hospital in 2013.

Earlier this year, Kuchipudi was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and nine counts of illegally soliciting or receiving benefits in return for referrals of patients covered under a federal health care program.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims that in exchange for patient referrals, In exchange for his referrals, Sacred Heart provided Kuchipudi with free labor in the form of a physician, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.” That labor was then billed to Medicare and Medicaid.

The entire scheme - conducted from 2001 to 2013 - that involved several physicians resulted in millions of dollars in reimbursements for Sacred Heart.

“Medical professionals of every kind must know that patient need should be the only factor influencing decisions concerning patient care,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel M. Hammerman argued at sentencing. “Patients are not commodities to be bartered or monetized.”